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Jennifer J. Tabanico California State University, San Marcos

Designing and Implementing Effective Social Norms Communications Lessons from Oil Recycling Programs. Jennifer J. Tabanico California State University, San Marcos. Traditional Approaches . Information Campaigns Intended to inform or educate people about a behavior, program, or problem

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Jennifer J. Tabanico California State University, San Marcos

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  1. Designing and Implementing Effective Social Norms Communications Lessons from Oil Recycling Programs Jennifer J. Tabanico California State University, San Marcos

  2. Traditional Approaches • Information Campaigns • Intended to inform or educate people about a behavior, program, or problem • Awareness Campaigns • Intended to convey to people the severity of a problem or issue

  3. The Information Campaign • “If people only knew…” • Ignores motives for behavior • Tend to produce ONLY small, short-term effects • Often used as control group against which better alternatives are tested

  4. What? Where? How?

  5. The Awareness Campaign • Highlight the seriousness of the problem by giving incidence rates • “Look at this big problem” • Provides information about what other people are doing • Can produce boomerang effects

  6. 90 % don’t do it!!

  7. Social Norms Approach • Awareness campaigns often include information about what others are doing • Social Norms – Expectations about the behavior, thoughts, or feelings that are appropriate within a given context • Descriptive or Injunctive • Powerful influence on behavior • Not typically viewed as influential

  8. The Boomerang Effect • Normative beliefs can be changed by providing normative information (through radio, brochures, etc.) • Changing normative beliefs causes a change in behavior • Interventions that focus on what others aren’t doing can lead to boomerang effect

  9. Oil Recycling PSAs • Radio PSAs designed and aired in Los Angeles • Norm of disapproval (injunctive) • “50% of oil sold is never collected” (descriptive) • Conflicting norms • A boomerang effect? • 60 DIYers at Kragen Autoparts • Materials: PSA messages, short survey • Procedure: listen to one of the oil messages (injunctive, conflicting, control), complete questionnaire

  10. Change in Normative Beliefs Please estimate the percentage of motor oil sold that is nevercollected:

  11. A Boomerang Effect! Future intentions to dispose of oil improperly--trash, ground, storm drain. (score = percentage who reported any possibility) Improper intentions: t(50)=.84; p=.41

  12. A Boomerang Effect! Future intentions to dispose of oil improperly--trash, ground, storm drain. (score = percentage who reported any possibility) Improper intentions: p=.09 (comparing injunctive to conflicting)

  13. What We Know… • Social norms have a powerful influence on behavior • Awareness campaigns contain normative information that can lead to a boomerang effect • Social norms can be incorporated into interventions to produce desirable changes in behavior

  14. Social Norms and Oil Recycling • Oil recycling in Napa County, CA • Curbside oil collection for residents in four areas of the county served by hauler • Underutilized • 1026 potential users (based on 19% DIY rate) • Only 339 enrolled in the program (steady decline over past 5 years) • Potential oil collection of 8,593 gallons per year, but only 600 (7%) was collected last year through the program.

  15. Intervention Development • Barrier survey showed: • 1. Lack of knowledge • 2. Belief that others in the community don’t use it (low normative beliefs) • Designed direct mail brochure containing normative information • Other people like you are participating • Designed to increase normative beliefs and knowledge

  16. Testimonials from “people like you” Descriptive Norm Injunctive Norm

  17. Results

  18. Results

  19. Conclusions • Combination of procedural information (knowledge) and motivational information (social norms) contributed to effectiveness of message. • Social norms interventions are an effective alternative to information and awareness campaigns.

  20. References • California Integrated Waste Management Board. (2003). Used oil recycling rate annual report: 2003. Sacramento, CA. Available online at: www.ciwmb.ca.gov/UsedOil/RateInfo. • Cialdini, R, B. (2003). Crafting normative messages to protect the environment. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12, 105 – 109. • Cialdini, R. B., Reno, R. R., & Kallgren, C. A. (1990). A focus theory of normative conduct: recycling the concept of norms to reduce littering in public places. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 1015 – 1026. • Schultz, P. W. (1999). Changing behavior with normative feedback interventions: A field experiment on curbside recycling. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 21, 25 – 36. • Schultz, P. W. (2002). Knowledge, education, and household recycling: Examining the knowledge-deficit model of behavior change. In T. Dietz & P. Stern (Eds.), Education,information, and voluntary measures in environmental protection (pp. 67-82). NationalAcademy of Sciences. • Schultz, P. W. (2004). Community Based Social Market Pilot to Increase DIYer Oil Recycling Rates. Final report submitted to the California Integrated Management Board.

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